The specification relates to a mixed reality simulation system for testing vehicle control system designs.
Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (“ADAS system” if singular, “ADAS systems” if plural) include autonomous vehicle control systems that need to be tested to ensure the safety of autonomous vehicles. Testing takes two forms: (1) real-world road testing, and (2) virtualized simulation testing methodologies.
Real-world testing methodologies record sensor data while a driver navigates roadways in the real world. Real-world testing is inadequate for designing ADAS systems because it is time consuming, expensive, fails to capture a wide enough range of driving scenarios, and risks collisions.
Virtualized simulation testing methodologies generate 3D virtual worlds from geometric models and estimate sensor data streams. Virtualized simulation testing methodologies are not as expensive as real-world road testing and do not risk collisions. However, virtualized simulations of road testing are inadequate for designing ADAS systems because it is not possible for a test engineer to design an entire virtual world with enough variation to yield accurate and reliable results that can be used to safely design an ADAS system.